Mostly, present forms of using energy include a chemical fuel, an atomic power, a hydraulic power and the like, which forms are not reversible. Especially, consumption of the chemical fuel is a cause for accelerating global warming as well as environmental disruption. An effort of consuming what is called a clean energy including a sun light generation, a wind power generation and hydrogen gas for decreasing load on the environment is more and more realized for a while, however, not to such an extent as to allow the clean energy to replace the chemical fuel or the atomic power.
A thermoelectric converter element using the Seebeck effect (hereinafter referred to as “Seebeck element”) is known for its ability to convert a natural heat energy into an electric power and the like which is directly usable. The Seebeck element is under research and development for replacing the chemical fuel or the atomic power. The Seebeck element is so constituted as to allow a contact of two conductors (or semiconductors) having different Seebeck coefficients from each other. Difference in the number of free electrons in the two conductors may move electrons, thus causing a potential difference between the two conductors. Applying the heat energy to the above contact may activate movement of the free electrons, thus converting the heat energy into the electric potential energy, which is referred to as “thermoelectric effect.”